20 



NATURE 



[August 23, 191 7 



August 6. — M. Paul ApJ>ell in the chair. — A. 

 Lacroix : The granulated rocks of a leucitic magma 

 studied with the aid of the holocrystalline blocks of 

 the Somma. — G. Humbert : The continued fraction of 

 Stephen Smith.— H. Le Chatelier and B. Bogitch : The 

 refractory properties of silica. Work supplementary to 

 results published in an earlier paper {C.R., 1917, 

 p. 64). A brick made from refractory clay, crushed 

 at a temperature ol 1500° C, flattened and showed 

 rounded edges, whilst, with silica, the first action of 

 the pressure produced no appreciable effect. On 

 breaking the test piece by increasing the pressure, the 

 pieces corresponded in shape with those normally ob- 

 served with hard materials. Good silica bricks con- 

 tain between 3 per cent, and 5 per cent, of basic 

 oxides, and the weight of sulphates obtained after 

 attack by hydrofluoric and sulphuric acids is between 

 8 per cent, and 14 per cent. Results are given of the 

 resistance to crushing after one hour at 1600° C. of a 

 number of good commercial silica bricks. — P. Sabatier 

 and G. Gaudion : A new case of reversible catalvsis : 

 direct formation of nitriles starting from amines of 

 the same carbon chain. Benzylamine passed in the 

 state of vapour over reduced nickel at 300° C. to 

 350° C. is converted into benzonitrile, toluene, and 

 ammonia, one-third of the amine being converted into 

 the nitrile. /soAmylamine behaves similarlv. — H. 

 Hildebrandson : Some remarks on the possible influence 

 of violent cannonades on rainfall. — J. Guillaume : Ob- 

 servations of the sun, made at the Observatory of 

 Lyons, during the first quarter of 1917. Observations 

 were made on sixty-four days, and are grouped in 

 tables giving the number of spots, their distribution 

 in latitude, and the distribution of the faculae in 

 latitude. — A. Colani : Study of the system : water, uranyl 

 oxalate, ammonium oxalate. — E. Rengade : The puri- 

 fication of salts by clairfage or by fractional crys- 

 tallisation. The word claircage is applied to the dis- 

 placement, by means of water or an appropriate 

 solvent, of the impure mother liquor impregnating 

 the crystals. The case of ammonium nitrate mixed 

 with a small proportion of sodium chloride is dis- 

 cussed in detail, the reactions being followed micro- 

 scopically.— .\. Cochain : The existence of an approxi- 

 rnate centre of symmetry in the figure formed bv the 

 directing lines of the Alpine system. The tectonic in- 

 terpretation of this quasi-symmetry.— J. Deprat : The 

 frontal zone of the preyunnanaise sheets in the regions 

 of Bao-lac and Cao-bang. — ^J. Amar : The physio- 

 pathology of effort. Effort is defined as a maximum 

 muscular action generally sustained, sometimes in- 

 stantaneous. The present paper deals with the 

 relations between respiration and effort both in the 

 normal and pathological states.^O. Bailly : Docs the 

 law of mass-action govern diastatic reactions ? Earlier 

 work has been in the direction of measuring the re- 

 action-velocities of diastatic reactions : the author 

 gives reasons for preferring to study the final equi- 

 libriurn state, and for this it is necessary to choose 

 reversible diastatic reactions carried out in homo- 

 geneous media. The case chosen is the synthesis 

 and hydrolysis of )3-methyIglucoside, making* use of 

 the experimental data of' Em. Bourquelot and Em. 

 Verdon, and here the experimental values and those 

 calculated from the law of mass-action are in good 

 agreement. 



Cape Town. 



Royal Society of South Africa, June 20.— Dr. L. 

 P^ringuey, president, in the chair.— H. V. Exner : A 

 case of hermaphroditism. A description of the bodv 

 of a person of unsound mind who had the outward 

 appearance of a Kaffir girl.— I. B. Pole Evans: The 

 genus Terfezia. A truffle from the Kalahari. Choero- 

 myces, a truffle hitherto unknown to Africa, has 

 NO. 2495, VOL. 99] 



recently been reported from South .Africa. It was 

 pointed out that the best known South .\frican truffles 

 belong to the genus Terfezia. The distinction between 

 Chceromvces and Terfezia was indicated, and a de- 

 scription given of a truffle (T. Clavcryi, Chat.) recently 

 sent from the Griqualand West district in the Kala- 

 hari. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



The Theory and Use of Indicators : An Account of 

 the Chemical Equilibria of Acids, Alkalies, and Indi- 

 cators in Aqueous Solution, with Applications. By 

 Dr. E. B. R. Prideaux. Pp. vii4-375. (London : 

 Constable and Co, Ltd.) 12s. 6d. net. 



Bureau Internaticnal des Poids et Mesures. La 

 Mesure Rapide des Bases Geodesiques. By J. R. 

 Benoit and C. E. Guillaume. Cinquieme (Edition. 

 Pp. 28^. (Paris : Gauthier-Villars et Cie.) 



The Thyroid Gland in Health and Disease. By Dr. 

 McCarrison. Pp. xvii4-286. (London: Bailliere,- 

 Tindall, and Cox.) 12s. 6d. net. < 



Stanford's Half-inch Map of the Battle Front :[ 

 Ostend, Zeebrugge, Bruges. (London : E. Stanford,' 

 Ltd.) 25. 6d. 



Laws of Physical Science. By Dr. E. F. Northrup. 

 Pp. vii-i-2io. (Philadelphia and London: J. B. 

 Lippincott, Ltd.) 8s. 6d. net. 



Standard Method of Testing Juvenile Mentality by 

 the Binet-Simon Scale. By N. J. Melville. Pp. xi + 

 142. (Philadelphia and London : J. B. Lippincott, 

 Ltd.) Ss. 6d. net. 



Standard Methods of Chemical Analysis. By 

 W. W. Scott and others. Pp. xxxi-i- 864 + plates iii. 

 (New York : D. Van Nostrand Co. ; London : Crosby 

 Lockwood and Son.) 30s. net. 



CONTENTS. p.^( 



New Books on Plants 501 



Is the Anglo-Saxon Doomed? By A. K 502 



Another Text-book of Histology. By E. W. M. . 502 



Our Bookshelf 503 



Letters to the Editor: — 



The Terminology of Parthenogenesis. — Sir E. Ray 



Lankester, K.C.B., F.R.S. . 504 



The Scandinavian Languages. — T. R. R. S 505 



The Civil Aerial Transport Committee. {Illus- 

 trated.) By Sir G. Greenhill, F.R.S 506 



The "Isle of Wight" Bee Disease 507 



Notes 508 



Our Astronomical Column :— 



The Commencement of the Astronomical Day . . . 512 



Observations of Mira Ceti 512 



Eclipsing Variables 5^2 



Drum-fire 513 



The Treatment of War Wounds. {Illustrated.) By j 



Col. Sir Almroth E. Wright, C.B., F.R.S 514] 



University and Educational Intelligence 5i8| 



Societies and Academies 519 



Books Received 52c 



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